


When It Rains, It Pours

by SailorPortia



Series: Dianakko Week 2020 [3]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Awkwardness, Comedy, Dianakko Week 2020, F/F, First Crush, Fluff, Rain, Umbrellas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:54:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorPortia/pseuds/SailorPortia
Summary: Diana is crushing hard on her classmate, Akko, but she doesn't know how to get closer to her. As luck would have it, Akko forgets to bring an umbrella on a rainy day, and Diana figures out a plan to close the gap between them.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Series: Dianakko Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899667
Comments: 21
Kudos: 239





	When It Rains, It Pours

Diana was deep in the throes of her first proper crush. She'd experienced deep admiration for women before, such as her childhood idol, Shiny Chariot, and fleeting interest in a few of her peers, but it wasn't until she met Akko that she first truly developed feelings for someone.

Akko had quite literally barrelled into her life on their first day attending Luna Nova High School. The rambunctious girl had rounded a corner too quickly and collided with her, sending them both tumbling to the floor.

"Ah! Sorry!" The short brunette—Diana wouldn't learn her name until later—scrambled into an upright position. Her crimson eyes widened when their gaze fell on Diana. "Oh," she said quietly. "I knocked over a pretty girl."

 _Why should it matter that I'm pretty?_ Diana thought. She stood up and brushed herself off, ignoring the heat building in her cheeks. "Please watch where you're going. This is a school, not a circus."

"Clowns and acrobats are actually really coordinated, so that insult doesn't even make sense!"

Diana wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she didn't. She walked away and went to homeroom. As fortune would have it, Akko entered the room not long after her.

Their paths didn't cross again for weeks, but that wasn't to say that Diana didn't notice Akko. How could she not, when Akko and Amanda and their friends caused disturbances in class. Eventually Ms. Finnelan broke up their cluster of troublemakers by changing the seating plan, which put Akko next to Diana.

"A star student such as yourself should be able to keep her in check," Finnelan told her, perhaps a little too optimistically.

At first, Diana thought Akko was a handful. She forgot her textbooks almost every day, and she insisted on carrying on a one-sided rivalry to prove that she was just as smart as the class's best student. As it turned out, Akko could achieve a lot when she had the proper motivation, namely trying to beat Diana.

Over time, Diana found herself drawn to Akko's earnestness and energy. Her little quirks kept things interesting, to say the least. Diana caught herself glancing at Akko during class to watch her adorable expressions. There was no denying it: Akko was cute, and Diana had a crush.

Any other girl would have taken full advantage of being seated next to her crush, but Diana couldn't justify talking in class. Not that Akko made it easy on her. She constantly whispered jokes and asides about the lesson with the goal of making Diana laugh. The star student never let her mask crack, but the effort was endearing nevertheless.

Diana knew that Akko didn't see her as a friend. She adamantly insisted as much whenever Amanda made insinuations about how "close" they were (not close enough for Diana's liking). They never spent time together outside of class. Sometimes Diana wondered if Akko would like her more if she loosened up a little or acted out.

It made her want to do something stupid, and Diana Cavendish never did anything stupid.

One day she ruined her perfect record. An innocuous opportunity arose to get closer to Akko, and she seized it like the clingy girl she was desperately trying not to be.

At lunch hour, rain started pouring down from the sky.

"Eh?" Akko cried out. "It's raining? I didn't bring an umbrella!"

"That's what you get for not paying attention to the forecast," Sucy said.

"I don't even pay attention in class! Somebody share their umbrella with me!" Akko groaned. "Wait, Finnelan gave me detention!"

Diana's eyes strayed from the book she was reading to watch Akko out of the corner of her eye. She listened closely from her own desk as Akko wailed about the cruel fate of being left alone by her friends.

A plan formed. A reckless plan.

Diana violated one of her own principles and used her phone during class to give herself a cover story. She found a bookstore which, should she make up a reason to go there, would take her by Akko's house (she knew the address since she was once asked to take a printout to her when she was out sick).

Once she finalized her plan, all there was to do was wait.

The final bell rang, and the students left the classroom, save for Akko. She'd be stuck behind for half an hour and forced to finish the worksheet she forgot to do last night. Meanwhile, Diana would be spending exactly the same amount of time "studying" in the library.

Or rather, that was the plan. She left five minutes earlier than planned because she was afraid she might miss Akko. Jittering with nerves, Diana waited by the door and pretended to rearrange the contents of her locker.

 _What if Finnelan is holding her back longer?_ Diana thought. _What if she already left? What if—_

"Diana? What are you still doing here?"

Diana breathed a sigh of relief before turning her head. "I was studying in the library. How was detention?" _What kind of question is that!?_

"Horrible! I still have to walk home in the rain too!"

"I may be able to help you with that." Diana took her umbrella out of her locker.

Akko's mouth made a little "o" in surprise. Then her eyes filled with tears. "Diana! You're my hero!" She closed the distance between their lockers in an instant, throwing her arms around Diana.

"It-it's nothing." Diana hoped Akko wouldn't notice she was blushing bright red.

"Wait..." Akko pulled back out of the hug. "Isn't your house the other way? I can't ask you to go out of your way for me."

"Actually..." Diana told Akko her cover story about the bookstore.

"Oh! Lucky me!"

Akko's arms were still around Diana, who was looking down at them in flustered dismay. "Um..." _What's wrong with me? I never say "um"._

"Oh, uh, sorry!" Akko let go of her and stepped away, rubbing the back of her neck the way she did when she was embarrassed. "I'm a bit of a touchy girl."

"I've noticed." And pined for that casual contact with her crush every time she saw Akko clinging to one of her friends.

Diana cleared her throat. "Shall we depart?"

The pair stepped outside and Diana opened up her umbrella. It was only meant to shelter one person, but they would have to make it work. Akko was small, and—

Akko already had a grip on Diana again, clinging to the arm that held the umbrella. "So, are we going?"

All Diana could think about was the hands wrapped around her arm. "R-right."

The rain beat down heavily on the umbrella as they walked down the street. Large puddles had already accumulated on the ground, and the pair had to keep swerving to avoid them. Neither of them said anything, save for Akko's commentary on the puddles and Diana's flaccid responses.

 _Say something, you fool,_ Diana told herself. _This is a chance to find something you have in common with her!_

"So... do you read books?"

She realized how insulting her question sounded as soon as it left her mouth. _I've all but called her an ignoramus!_ "I mean, do you ever go to the bookstore. To buy books to read. For fun."

"Does manga count?" Akko asked. "I read tons of manga. What about you?"

"I've never read a single one. N-not that there's anything wrong with manga!"

Akko giggled.

"Did I say something amusing?"

"I finally found something you're bad at. You're terrible at small talk!" Akko grinned

"Indeed." Actually she was fine with small talk as long as her crush wasn't involved.

"You must really love books," Akko said. "It's raining cats and dogs and you're going out shopping."

"It's a special book. They only have one copy, and I want to make sure I'm the one who gets it."

"Ooh! What is it?"

Diana blanked. She hadn't expected Akko to ask follow up questions about her cover story. Unpractised in the art of off-the-cuff lies, Diana defaulted to her favourite book—afterward she would be able to produce a copy if she needed proof. "It's a first edition copy of the final book of the Shiny Chariot novelizations."

Akko gave Diana an inscrutable look, then her face broke into a smile. "You're a Shiny Chariot fan too?"

"Well, yes." Diana wasn't the type to talk about her interests, and she hadn't admitted to being a Shiny Chariot fan since she was a child. Her favourite book series was perhaps a little juvenile, but she loved it nevertheless.

"You should've said that ages ago!" Akko squeezed Diana's arm. "I've always wanted a friend who's a fan of Shiny Chariot!"

 _Friend._ Not exactly what Diana was aiming for, but she could be satisfied with that for now.

"What did you think about the movies?"

"I thought they were an atrocity. Not only did they butcher the story, the CGI was hideous." Thank goodness they only made two before the studio gave up.

Akko nodded. "I know, right? I could have played Alcor better!"

Diana imagined Akko in a feathered suit and beak squawking exposition in bird language. She stifled a giggle with her free hand.

"Hey! I finally made you laugh!" Akko pumped her fist in victory. Her gleeful smile did a number on Diana's heart.

As they reached Akko's street, they continued talking about the Shiny Chariot franchise, and Diana let slip her childhood crush on the live-action depiction of the titular heroine, the only good thing to come of the movies. Diana didn't even realize she'd admitted to her crush that she liked girls until Akko concurred, calling the movies her "bi awakening." What was it about Akko that made her lose her self-restraint?

At last they reached their destination, and Diana wished she could continue talking with Akko forever. She walked Akko to her door, almost crying out in longing when Akko finally let go of her.

"Thanks, Diana," she said. "You really saved my butt today."

"It was no trouble at all," Diana said. Akko's smile was worth anything.

"I used to think you were a stuck-up windbag, but you're actually pretty cool."

Diana took issue with the first part, but at least Akko's opinion of her had improved. "And you can be rather charming when you're not causing trouble." She instantly regretted her word choice. _Charming? Could I be any more obvious?_

The romantic implications went over Akko's head. "Charming like the magical Shiny Chariot?" She made guns with her fingers to emphasize her dorky joke. Adorable.

"Exactly."

"Be careful on the rest of your walk. Don't get hit by a car on your way to the bookstore."

Diana had forgotten all about her cover story. "Right."

"I hope you get the book!"

An idea struck Diana, and she ran with it before her better judgement could stop her. "How about I text you when I get it?"

Of course, she didn't have Akko's number, but that was easily remedied. They exchanged numbers, and Diana couldn't stop smiling the whole time.

"See you at school!" Akko said, waving at Diana as she walked away.

"S-see you." Diana couldn't believe her luck. Her plan had gone off without a hitch, and she had acquired Akko's number and an excuse to text her. The cloud inside the silver lining was that she still had to walk home in the rain, but that seemed inconsequential to her. She practically skipped home.

* * *

Akko kicked off her shoes as soon as she came in the door and headed upstairs to her room. She fished her phone out of her bag before dropping it on the floor at the foot of her bookshelf. Running a finger over the tops of the spines of her Shiny Chariot books, Akko pondered Diana's lie.

"As if there could be a special edition Shiny Chariot book at a bookstore in this town without me knowing about it." She'd been searching for a copy of the final book in the series to complete her special edition collection. Constanze had written an algorithm to track her quarry for her, so there's no way a copy could have flown under her nose.

If Diana wasn't going to that specific bookstore for that book, why was she going? Was she looking for something too embarrassing to mention? Was she even going to a bookstore? She'd been acting weird the whole time. Come to think of it, Diana usually went straight home. What was she doing leaving at the same time as someone getting out of detention?

So many questions, and she had a feeling Diana wouldn't answer truthfully if she asked. There was however someone she could ask about weird behaviour from girls.

Akko sent a text to Amanda:

 **Akko:** Hey I have a girl question for you

As she waited for a response, she flopped onto her bed and waited for her phone's screen to light up.

 **Amanda:** Yo, hit me with it

 **Akko:** What does it mean if a girl lies about why she's hanging out with you?

 **Akko:** Like, if she makes up a reason to be around you and you find out it's fake?

 **Amanda:** ...how close are you with her?

That was a question and a half. If she'd been asked that this morning, she would've said that Diana couldn't stand her. After sharing an umbrella with her, she wasn't sure. Diana had been really nice to her, and Akko finally made her laugh after weeks of trying. She was starting to think it might be nice to get a little closer with Diana.

 **Akko:** We see each other a lot but we never really hung out before this

 **Amanda:** Girl... she totally wants you

 **Akko:** No way!

 **Amanda:** Why'd she lie then? She was trying to be smooth

Akko shoved her face into her pillow. There was no way that was true, right? Diana barely noticed her outside of class until today, and they ran in totally different circles. Was she actually uninterested in her, or was she just shy?

 **Akko:** Maybe she just wants to be friends

 **Amanda:** Yeah I guess. If she's straight

 **Amanda:** So who is it anyway?

 **Akko:** Not telling!

There was no way she could tell Amanda that she'd been talking about Amanda's least favourite person in class. Akko didn't know how she felt about Diana—and there was no way Diana Cavendish had been hitting on her—but she wanted to see where this was going. It couldn't hurt to get closer to another Shiny Chariot fan.

The fact that Akko thought Diana was pretty since she first ran into her totally didn't factor into it.


End file.
